


Unplanned

by als5852



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Battle of New York (Marvel), Gen, Nuclear Weapons, The Avengers (2012) - Freeform, The Avengers (2012) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 10:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13245960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/als5852/pseuds/als5852
Summary: "When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not planning on dropping a nuke on New York City."Set during the first Avengers movie. Have you ever wondered what was going through the head of the pilot who was willing to drop a bomb of New York City?





	Unplanned

**Author's Note:**

> I was re-watching the Avengers, and the scene where the Defense Council ordered that pilot to drop a bomb on New York City intrigued me. What type of man was this who was willing to follow that order? What was going through his head? This is the result of that wondering. Don't forget to leave me kudos or a comment if you like/have something to say about the story!

When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not planning on dropping a nuke on New York City. He ate breakfast and kissed his daughter goodbye at his parents’ house in South Jersey before returning from a break in his training like normal, because nothing was going to happen on the helicarrier that day. SHIELD had been attacked the previous night, but the helicarrier was invincible, right? There was nothing on Earth that could breach it. As it turns out, he was right. The man who did wasn’t from Earth.

His name was Loki, and he claimed himself a god and the rightful ruler both of Asgard and of Earth. Jeremy Heines was a trainee pilot. When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not expecting an alien invasion. He thought that he would have an uneventful, yet tense day at training. Maybe he would undergo a simulation or two. Maybe he would clean the landing decks. As it turns out, he was wrong. 

Jeremy was on the deck running drills when Captain America arrived. Like most SHIELD personnel, the non-secret that he was alive had trickled down the grapevine to him. He only gawked at the Captain for a few seconds before his drill sergeant started yelling.

“Eyes forward, ladies!” He shouted. “Nothing to see.”

When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not planning on disobeying orders. SHIELD paid too much for him to risk anything. Jeremy and Marley raised Gert in a studio apartment; Jeremy and Marley were getting desperate. He kept running. Business as usual.

Jeremy Heines was nothing special, so how was he surviving the helicarrier invasion as the resulting chaos when so many good men and women had died? An explosion boomed in the distance, followed by a deep, bellowing roar and a large, metallic clash that he could hear all the way in the corner where he was hiding after he escaped the flight deck. He was alone except for the beat of his heart and the crackle of his comm unit. There was only one other person left alive on the channel used for his unit, and neither of them dared speak higher than a whisper if at all out of fear of being discovered. Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his knees to his chest, trying desperately to block out the sounds of destruction. Tears sprung into his eyes. He had to get home. Gert was only three, so she wouldn’t even get the SHIELD stipend to live off of if he died. Jeremy Heines refused to leave his daughter an orphan. The roar sounded again, punctuated by gunshots. 

“Did you hear that?” Whispered his last companion, a nice young woman named Carrie who always wore a purple jelly anklet under her SHIELD issue boots, over the comm. 

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit, right?”

“Yeah. It’s pretty close to me. I’d rather not talk.”

“Sorry, J. Shutting up now. Stay alive.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Silence.

He missed Gert, he thought, chest aching. He sat in silence for so long that he didn’t even notice when the comms went down until, desperate for company, he tried to talk to Carrie again when the roars had faded away. When the attacks stopped and Fury got the comms working again, he was already on the bridge standing next to her, shoulders pressed together, watching as an alien army destroyed New York City. he saw the building he had lived in with Gert before SHIELD training had started get destroyed. One of Fury’s cameras caught the despair-filled face of one of his old neighbors as Captain America dashed through, followed by the Black Widow. He remarked so much to Carrie, and she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. 

“We’re sitting ducks up here,” he muttered to her. “Completely helpless.”

“God, I hope none of this escapes New York,” she said, eyes wide, horror apparent in her face.

“My parents and daughter live in Jersey,” he said.

“I really hope none of this escapes New York,” she responded, quieter.

The main screen shifted to Iron Man shooting his repulsors at several aliens, killing them instantly. Four more took their place. Jeremy caught a glimpse of the giant portal in the sky. 

“They’ll never destroy that thing,” said Jeremy. “They’re getting their asses kicked.” 

Carrie only nodded, tears in her eyes; she still hadn’t let go of his hand. Jeremy and Carrie stood still and silent watching the battle unfold. They only noticed that Fury had left the bridge when they were notified that Fury’s command had been overridden. When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not planning on dropping a nuke on New York City, but he wasn’t about to disobey orders. Maybe if he did this, they could stop the invasion. Gert would be safe. Carrie had hugged him as they slipped off of the bridge and prepared for flight.

“We can do this,” she said as if trying to convince herself instead of him. 

“Yeah,” he said. The reality of what he was about to do only hit him as he sat in the cockpit of the quinjet prepared to take off. 

“Ready for this?” Carrie asked, voice crackling over the intercept.

“Ask me once we’ve stopped this shit. We’re about to bomb New York City. If we get arrested after this, tell Gert that I love her and that this was all for her.”

“Got it, Jer. Godspeed.”

And with that, they started going down their runways, her slightly ahead of him. He didn’t stop when he heard the explosion nor when he saw Carrie’s plane still on the runway with a broken wing and Nick Fury standing next to it with a rocket launcher. His hands may have been shaking on the controls, but Jeremy Heines kept flying and locked onto his target. He would not let this war make an orphan of his daughter. With a deep, shuddering breath, he squeezed his finger over a small red button and banked away from the city. With a barely steady voice and tears in his eyes, he said,

“Package sent. Two minutes to detonation.”

When Jeremy Heines woke up that morning, he was not planning on dropping a nuke on New York City.


End file.
